Memories
by Ashe M Maree
Summary: This is a title in the making. This story is based within the first season of Yu-Gi-oh! An anime i grew up with. It includes my oc, Rika Hanatsu (Sister to Atemu-Past) in which the storyline is set in s1, ep40: Aftermath, where Yugi Moto meets Shadi, as he tried to find the thief that stole Pegasus' Millennium Eye. Enjoy and let me know wht you think. ;D


The Spirits within the Millennium Puzzle.

Ever since Yugi, his friends and I had arrived at the duellist kingdom, we always had each other's back. If I'm entirely honest, I actually admired Yugi Mouto, when he was always facing his opponents. I had only known him for almost three years now, I begged my parents to allow me to go to normal school, as I had been home schooled all of my life. Yes I had enjoyed it, learning about many things like duelling, history, art, many things, but I wanted to experience real school; with real friends. So when I turned fourteen I asked my parents to go to normal school, even though they hated the idea.

But after constantly insisting they finally gave in, and that was when I had met Yugi Mouto and his rambunctious group of friends, despite being older than some of them, by about a year or two. My oldest friend was Mai Valentine, we had met by accident at the mall in Domino City, she was talking with someone and being utterly shy in such a big place I ended up crashing into her and sent her clothes flying. After having a go at me, we ended up talking with each other and soon after that we had become friends. I looked around me, yes the Duellist Kingdom Tournament had ended now, Yugi had of course won.

But throughout the entire Duellist Kingdom Yugi and Joey worked perfectly in friendship but also in their duels, even though Joey almost lost more than once. Even Mai had been amazing. Yes I had loved watching the duels and sometimes I had wished that I was competing in the Duellist Kingdom once or twice. But either way I still supported all my friends, though I had always noticed that my friend Yugi became someone different when he duelled, and my guess was because of his Millennium Puzzle. Yes after meeting him for the first time, I had sensed another presence around me, a spirit and it was always powerful. I knew Yugi was rather fond of his Millennium Puzzle, it was a part of him.

And yet I knew what it was immediately, since I had a sketch book that had images of the seven millennium items inside of it. I had drawn them all from dreams I had been experiencing ever since I was young. I knew that they were powerful and each one had its own powerful magic and abilities. Ever since I was young I had the ability to read Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs, but also I had the power of vision and dreams. But recently I had been having a constant reoccurring nightmare, in which I first found myself in ancient Egypt, in some strange room talking to a young woman, but then it changed and I found myself facing someone, a flash of light, weakness and then darkness.

I shivered, subconsciously rubbing my arms. I sighed and looked around, trying to find where my friends were. It was dark now and earlier I had heard a cry of agony coming from one of the towers within Maximillian Pegasus's Castle. A cool breeze whipped harshly around my hair, blowing it

roughly into my face, something didn't feel right at the moment, everything felt out of whack.

"Where on Earth are my friends?" I asked the darkness around me. The moon shone her pale, silver face down at me, be-nigh to the strange feeling that was the air. I stopped outside an entrance way, it was one of the many towers that Pegasus's castle had. I took a step forward, it was dark and it seemed to loom above me like a mocking laughter, which would make most freeze where they stood, though to me it was just a new place to explore. As I looked into the blackened abyss, I sensed something, though it was faint. It was similar to what I felt when it came to both Yugi's and Ryou's Millennium items, except this presence felt strange, like someone or something was looking for a thing lost.

I held my breath for a moment, as the presence faded. Yes, I could sense things sometimes like the spirits that dwelled in two of my friends items, yet I never understood why. Sighing for a moment I took a step forward and was surprised to see that there was light in the tower. Once my dark violet eyes adjusted I continued forward.

"Yugi are you here?" I called to the darkness around me. I listened closely for any sound, any whisper and breath, but I heard nothing. A cold chill danced over my spine like phantom hands. Something didn't feel right. For a while I continued walking in the darkness calling out for anyone, but again silence replied back with nothing. This didn't feel right, not one bit.

"Hello? Yugi? Tea'? Joey? Tristan? Mai?" I called out again. Nothing yet again. As I continued walking in the room, I felt myself going down a flight of stairs. There was a floor a few steps away and then another corridor. I heard a murmur of voices and my heart skipped a few beats. Who was there? On the stone wall were a dance of shadows, one small and one tall.

"Yugi?" I whispered. The murmur of voices stopped and I halted where I was, unsure if I should move on to see who the shadows were. After a few long minutes the voices spoke again, and I carefully, but silently stepped forward. When I came to the corridor, I ducked so my back rested against the smooth stone that was the wall, which was as cold as ice. I shivered for a moment as my red fringe fell in my eyes, removing it from my eyes I dared to peek from behind my hiding spot. Carefully I looked around. To my relief and surprise I noticed a young boy with star shaped hair, that I knew only belonged to Yugi, as for the other person he was much taller than Yugi, with dark skin and was dressed in white robes, with a white turban on his head, in his ears were golden earrings, as I looked closer, I noticed that around his neck shone the Millennium Key.

My mouth dropped as both talked in a loud whisper.

"What do you want? And who are you? What are you doing?" Yugi's childlike voice said, fearful. The other man stepped forward.

"My name is Shadi and I'm looking for a thief." He said to Yugi, there was silence for a fraction of a second.

"We aren't the only ones here." Shadi said, as his blue eyes looked straight towards me, and I ducked behind the wall, panic coursing through me. My hands hit the wall as I stumbled trying to get away from him. This was the presence I felt earlier. My breath became rushed as I tried stepping back, only to fall down as I landed on the first step. I didn't know why I felt scared but I did.

Scrambling to try and get to my feet, I almost tripped again, before Shadi appeared in front of me.

"Who are you and why did you come here? Are you my thief?" He asked me almost coldly. I took a moment to steady myself. Closing my eyes for a moment, I felt myself calm down. Opening my eyes I looked at the man.

"My name is Rika Hanatsu, I was just trying to find my friends. And accidentally came down here. What are you planning to do with Yugi? And no, I am not a thief. As you see I carry not a single Millennium item." I said, surprised at how powerful I sounded. A new confidence stirred inside as I stood up properly, fixing my skirt. For a moment Shadi's composure faltered as though he was seeing someone different.

"I see. My name is Shadi and I'm looking for a thief." He said sternly, his stern composure back in place. The more I looked at him, the more I thought I may have seen him before. But that couldn't be possible. For a moment silence surrounded us like a blanket.

"Then you won't mind if I can see for myself." He said.

"What… what do you mean?" I asked.

"I would like passage into your mind, to ensure that you tell the truth." He replied, hand resting on his Millennium Key. My mouth dropped for a second time as my poker face faltered, but I quickly fixed it up.

"Fine. Passage granted." I said, voice deep all of a sudden. Shadi removed the key from around his neck and placed the tip in the centre of my forehead, with a simple turn, I felt nothing, but soon enough I felt my mind open. Whatever magic this guy possessed came from his Millennium Key, which gave him the power to go into a person's mind to see if they spoke truth or to see into their souls and hearts. I could feel him exploring my mind, but I didn't know what he was seeing, or experiencing, since I have no such memories of my past. After a while Shadi returned and he removed the key from my forehead.

"It seems that you were telling me the truth. But your mind is like a maze of sorts, yet I can feel great power deep inside of your being. You are not the thief I seek. I apologise for intruding." He replied, turning back around and heading to Yugi. What on Earth did this person mean? How was my mind a maze? I blinked stunned at what just happened, before my mind thought to Yugi. This Shadi was probably going to do the same with my friend. Shaking out of my confusion; I turned around the corner to see Shadi was about to ask the same thing to Yugi.

"Yugi!" I called, ignoring Shadi's irritated expression.

"Rika, I was trying to find you." Yugi said, as he gave me a hug.

"I was trying to find you to. Is everything ok? What about Joey and Mai?" I asked.

"They're fine. All our friends are fine, though I can't find Ryou." Yugi replied.

"Ryou?" I asked.

"Yeah." Yugi replied. Not a moment after we spoke, Shadi did the same thing to Yugi after getting Yugi's permission. As I watched in silence, I noticed a blank stare cross Yugi's eyes as Shadi closed his eyes, and then there was golden light, I blinked; stunned.

 _Inside Yugi's Mind…._

Shadi found himself inside Yugi's mind, and what lay before him was an open book. Before him was a narrow, yet dark corridor. With a moment to pause Shadi made his way down the corridor and soon found himself looking at two separate chambers. One chamber led to a room where white light shone through the barely opened door, giving light to the dark corridor. Shadi made his way to the slightly opened door and rested a hand on the golden knob. Without much effort Shadi pushed on the knob and the door fell softly open. Before his eyes decorating the vast, open room, light filtered through it, giving the sense of innocence and purity, which belonged to a child. Scattered around the open floor space were a variety of only the best children's toys and books.

To Shadi this room spoke legions of a child's innocence and naivety to the world and purity. A child free from the pressures of life.

"This chamber shows a child's room, scattered with children's toys. This represents an innocence rarely seen these days. An innocence that a child holds deep within their hearts and minds." Shadi said quietly as he glanced around the chamber. There was nothing in here or any place where a thief could hide. Shadi knew he needed to move on, there was more he needed to explore. He turned on his heels, as his robes flared out behind him. Within moments Shadi's tall frame was back in the dark corridor, in where little light shone.

For a moment Shadi looked into the vastness of the corridor, deciding on his next action. After a moment Shadi headed towards the last remaining chamber. This one was not nearly as innocent as the other had been, the one that belonged to Yugi Mouto. This chamber had a stone door guarding it, with an eye resting within the centre of it. Shadi could sense great power deep within. Making his way towards the other chamber, Shadi paused, to him it was shrouded in great mystery, and darkness, little light shone. As Shadi made his way towards the second chamber, his hand rested on the knob, as the sense of great power hit him like a thunderous wave. Opening the door, the chamber was vast and open, and on the wall there were carving of monsters in stone. It was dank

and filled with mystery. To him it felt like he was entering an ancient tomb of an Egyptian Pharaoh. Power emanated throughout this entire chamber. As Shadi walked towards it, in the centre of the room was a shadow, and a spark of light. As the light lit the room, Shadi stopped in his tracks.

Standing before him was a young man with star shaped hair, dark eyes and wearing a purple outfit, with a choker around his neck, and shining lightly was the Millennium Puzzle. For a moment, silence lingered around both, before he stepped forward.

"I seek a criminal who has stolen the power of a millennium item." Shadi said boldly, as the young man looked up and at him, eyeing him with great caution. After explaining himself thoroughly, he waited for the man's reply.

"And you accuse me of being that criminal?" the young man replied; voice filled with power, a strong confidence, echoing legions of power, and perfect royal finesse.

Shadi felt kind of small against the power this man held, but he couldn't let that deter him from his mission to seek out this criminal.

"But if you are not the criminal, then you have nothing to fear from my search." Shadi said, stepping forward the slightest inch.

"Guilty until proven innocent. An ancient concept in such modern times… However I have nothing to hide and I am not your criminal". The young man said boldly, as his hand rested on his hip while his other was pulled into a fist, further emphasising a greater power.

"Then grant me passage into your unconscious mind." Shadi continued.

"Fine." Came the bold reply, as the spirit clicked his fingers.

Within a blink Shadi found himself in an endless maze, where many steps lead to different places and many doors which led elsewhere. *What a complex place. There are endless levels upon levels, endless mysteries that need to be understood…* Shadi thought silently to himself as his eyes danced around, taking this place in.

"Feel free to search to your heart's content. So I will leave you to continue your exploration." The spirit said, before vanishing without a trace. As Shadi looked around he was unsure where to start. His best option was to open each door and explore their contents, to ensure this individual was speaking truth. For a while Shadi searched aimlessly, open door after door, trying to see if this spirit was speaking the truth.

*With all these endless doors and endless levels, my thief could be anywhere.* Shadi thought silently to himself as his blue eyes scanned the area, they landed on a single door. Walking forward powerfully and boldly he stopped outside the door. Without a second thought he opened it, as he was greeted by a trap. With a moment, Shadi jumped back and slammed the door closed. Even though Shadi was trying to find this thief, and feeling this man's power, he still felt the faintest touches of other power deep within.

As Shadi continued his search, even more doors greeted him like a taunting embrace.

"This place is endless." Shadi said quietly to himself. Again he wandered aimlessly through the subconsciousness of this spirit's mind. Yet the more he searched, he began to feel another presence, deep, deep within the abyss of this man's mind. Yes it was faint, but he could still feel it. Hope sparked inside. *If I can find where this presence resides, I may have found my thief…* Shadi thought, quickening his long strides, slightly. The deeper he searched the stronger the presence grew.

Shadi stopped in his tracks, as he found himself staring at a single door. The presence emanating from this room was almost as powerful as the man's power when Shadi entered his chamber.

"The presence I feel coming from this door is almost as overwhelming as the spirit I encountered before…" Shadi said, slightly nervous. *Whoever resides in here has done well in hiding themselves deep within the subconscious of this man's mind… So I may of found the thief I seek.* he thought silently. Taking in a deep breath in, Shadi rested a shaky hand on the door handle. He didn't understand why he felt so nervous. Taking a moment to relax, and to stop his hand from shaking, Shadi opened the door.

As he opened the door, this time there was no trap that greeted is waking step. This time he found himself in a room, this time it did feel a little mysterious, but not as it had been when he met the spirit that gave Shadi passage into his unconscious mind. Stepping forward Shadi felt a similar power to the man who had greeted him in the other chamber, opposite to the innocent chamber. For a moment Shadi saw nothing, but as if on cue a light shone lightly into the room where a lone figure stood. *What is going on here?* Shadi thought as he made his way to the figure. As he moved closer Shadi took in the features of this figure. It was feminine and her hair was three separate colours.

This figure had a magna coloured fringe, which rested neatly framing her face. She had black colours of hair, resting in front of her ears where golden ankh earrings rested in her ears and she had blonde hair with dark violet eyes. She was dressed in ancient Egyptian princess clothing, where a golden crown shone lightly on her head. She was beautiful, Shadi had to admit to himself, but he didn't understand what such an ancient spirit was doing deep within the subconscious of this man's mind.

"Who are you? And why have you journeyed so far into my brother's subconsciousness?" The spirit said, voice powerful and filled with confidence.

"Another spirit dwells within the memories of this pharaoh's mind?" Shadi said silently more to himself than to the other spirit.

"I came in here to try and find a thief who stole a millennium item. Why are you here?" Shadi replied, eyeing the spirit with great caution.

"I am a memory buried deep within my brother's subconscious mind. He doesn't know I dwell here. Both our pasts are lost to us. My name is Rika, sister to the young Pharaoh. Whose subconscious mind you are exploring." She replied, stepping forward. As she stepped forward Shadi couldn't help but think back to the girl whose mind he unlocked earlier to see if she spoke truth. This princess looked a lot like her and shared the same name.

"But how are you here?" he said, confused.

"Because the day I sacrificed myself to protect him, with the last ounce of my power I locked a part of my deep within his memories, and deep within the Millennium Puzzle. Only when our pasts are unlocked can we be reunited again." Rika replied, voice filled with a melancholic sadness, yet still illuminating great power and confidence, as the royals did in Ancient Egypt long ago.

"I see…"

"I can sense you seek something other than me, the missing Millennium Item, the Millennium Eye, so I shall let you continue exploring my brother's mind to see if you can find the thief. But I tell you this, you won't find him." The princess replied any trace sadness now gone as her voice spoke legions of royalty and confidence.

"Thank you. But I will see if what you say is true, my princess." Shadi said, as the princess faded into the shadows. Shadi left the room and continued his search. Still finding nothing, he felt like giving up, but knew he needed to find the thief. Another door, this time Shadi looked around the room, I looked safe enough. Stepping forward cautiously, Shadi looked around the room, but all too soon the floor collapsed beneath him. *Another trap? Never have I seen such mental defences* he thought silently, as he grabbed the floor above him, clinging to dear life. His blue eyes looked below where Shadi clung. All he saw was a deep blackness, which seemed to be like an endless, dark void. Should he fall, he would be trapped in this spirit's mind for eternity. A young, innocent voice made him look up. To his surprised relief Shadi noticed the face of a young boy, in which shared his vessel with the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle. *It's the innocent one…* Shadi thought joyfully.

"I don't know why the spirit of my puzzle is doing this to you, but I won't let it hurt you. So let me help you up." The young boy's innocent voice said, as he helped to pull Shadi up.

With a grunt, both of them were back on solid ground. Shadi felt relieved now that he was not clinging onto to dear life.

"I only wish to see the truth. But it is strange that my way is blocked…." He said, getting to his feet once more. It was the truth, he asked for passage into this spirit's mind to see if he could find the thief, but ended up only finding more questions and another being deep within the subconscious mind of the spirit who shared this boy's body as a vessel.

"It may seem strange, but I don't think the spirit of my puzzle means to do it on purpose…There are some memories I don't even think he remembers. I wish I knew what they were…" The young boy's voice said.

For a moment, silence lingered among them both, making the air seem thick and heavy. But as the boy spoke, a door appeared in the abyss of the labyrinth. Both to Shadi and the boy's amusement.

"It opens for you, as if trying to answer your curiosity…But why?" he said, preparing to take step forward. As they walked in silence they both found themselves inside a room where stone carvings adorned the walls, surrounding them. Shadi knew what these were, stone carvings of monsters from 5000 years ago, during the time of the great kings of Ancient Egypt.

"5,000 years ago Egyptian Kings played a game of great and terrible power. These; Shadow Games were played with real magic and real monsters. But those games erupted into a war to destroy the entire world…Until a brave pharaoh locked the magic away. Sealing these monsters in stone tablets. But how could your other personality have knowledge of this history?" Shadi replied, as memories ran through his mind, as he remembered all that he had been taught. As they walked on, Shadi felt an unsettling feeling erupt in his stomach, magic and power the world hasn't seen in 5,000 years. As the young boy looked around at these stone tablets he realised that they looked like the same monsters he used when playing duel monsters.

Before both of their eyes yellow lightning erupted from the ceiling, blinding both Shadi and the young boy for only moments.

"Be careful, a new threat appears…" Shadi said as he stopped in his tracks. One of the stone tablets glowed for a moment as a monster appeared, draped in dark purple clothing, and holding a sceptre in his hands. Yugi knew what this monster was.

"The Dark Magician?" Yugi said, as Shadi stepped back, as the monster pointed its sceptre towards both him and the innocent one.

"He prepares to strike…" Shadi said, preparing to summon a monster to defend them. It was blue eyes white dragon.

Yugi stepped forward unfazed by the Dark Magician's approach.

"No, wait, stop."

"Why?"

"Because I know he won't hurt me." He said running forward and stopping directly in front of Shadi, as the magician loomed forward, towering above the boy. Shadi watched silently behind the boy, still preparing to strike if necessary.

As the boy spoke, Shadi watched quietly, as the monster stopped. *This child shows no fear when confronted by the Dark Magician…* he thought silently, curious as the boy spoke to it.

As the monster lowered his sceptre, Shadi stopped the process of summoning the monster beneath his feet.

"What is this..?" he said quietly, watching intently. Almost immediately he began to put the pieces together, from the knowledge he knew and the prophecy. Shadi gasped quietly. *This… this boy must be the chosen one…* he thought as sweat poured from his brow. Before both of their eyes a blinding golden glow surrounded the monster, making both Shadi and Yugi cover their eyes as the monster faded and disappeared before them.

 _Back in the corridor:_

Soon enough Shadi and Yugi found themselves back in the corridor. I blinked as a golden light illuminated the darkness surrounding my friend, Shadi and myself. Almost immediately Shadi removed his hand from the Millennium Key which hung loosely on a thick brown chord, shining dully against his white robes.

"I apologise for my rude intrusion into your mind. I did not realise you were the chosen one and that the ancient predictions have finally been fulfilled at last. Instead of my search for a thief I found the most worthy. One fated to unlock all the magic. The theft of Pegasus's Millennium Eye, was the first sign that once again evil walks the Earth, bringing madness in its wake as it was in ancient times…" Shadi said, turning away from Yugi.

I blinked, did I hear that correctly? Evil once again walks the Earth? Before I could stop it, I saw myself back in Ancient Egypt, battling someone, the bright flash, weakness before darkness took hold of me as I collapsed. Only to find myself in the arms of a young pharaoh, who held me tightly. He looked like Yami, but all too soon I felt my energy leaving my body and then nothing. I let out a muffled scream, praying that neither Yugi nor Shadi heard me. I felt cold stone against my back only to see I was on the floor of the tower. Yugi's eyes were on me, as were Shadi's. A rose blush crept onto my face, I felt too embarrassed to look at them, but quickly I shook my embarrassment off and jumped to my feet.

"Are you ok, Rika?" Shadi said, as he moved towards me only a few centimetres.

"Uh, yeah, I just saw… never mind." I said, trying to avoid his blue eyes, I couldn't. He had a strange expression on his face, like he had seen a ghost.

"You look like the spirit I saw deep within the spirit of the Puzzle's subconscious mind…" Shadi said to me, I blinked. *What could he mean?* I thought silently. But all to soon his attention went back to Yugi, as he finished talking. Walking down the stairs and fading, but not without final words to Yugi, "Stay true to your destiny, for the fate of the world rests on your shoulders" he said, before fading in a silver light.

Silence lingered for a moment.

"Huh…" Yugi said. He blinked and turned towards me.

"Are you sure you are alright Rika, I saw you collapse before, and scream slightly. What was it that you saw before?" he asked. Yes I trusted Yugi enough to tell him about my power, visions and dreams but none of my other friends. I couldn't explain it, but I felt connected to him and Yami. I told Yugi mostly though, as for Yami? I only told him a few things, but I always got questions in reply. Both of us had no memory of our pasts, but still… *What had Shadi meant by saying I looked like a spirit that was locked deep within Yami's subconscious mind? * I thought silently.

"I'll tell you later Yugi. Right now I just want to get out of here, so we can find our friends." I said, voice calm and relaxed.

"Ok. Lets go." Yugi replied as we both walked out of the tower and into the evening.


End file.
